Yes, indeed. The agency everyone loves to lambast is going for an organizational makeover. FDA commish Andy von Eschenbach has okayed a two-year deal for a consulting firm to assist with a cultural change at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. The focus - improving workplace leadership, empowering staff and establishing more effective business practices. All this for only $1.5 million.

Clearly, these are lofty goals for a bureaucracy that only last year threatened to lasso whistleblowers, something which Andy subsequently attempted to disavow despite accurate media reports. Just the same, all 2,300 CDER employees will be included what FDA officials call a “workplace transformation effort.”

The deal with the Center for Professional Development is in response to a blistering report issued last year by the Institute of Medicine on the FDA’s handling of drug safety. The IOM criticized, among other things, the agency’s organizational structure and approach to internal dissent. Under the contract, CPD is supposed to develop practical strategies, including training, tools, and processes, to strengthen CDER’s ‘organizational effectiveness.’

“This transformative program will provide CDER with the tools and expertise necessary to create a sustainable environment of open and transparent communication, collaborative decision-making, and improved morale and staff retention,” says Janet Woodcock, FDA’s deputy commish for scientific and medical programs, chief medical officer and acting center director, in a casually worded statement.